TNA vs. WWE Fantasy Match: Abyss vs. Kane

Abyss and Kane have so many similarities; you’d think that they were brothers. They play convincing face and heel characters, they are considered to be monsters that are feared by countless superstars in professional wrestling and they both wear masks. Also, Abyss and Kane have been in the wrestling industry for an extremely long time and are veterans that can be relied on no matter the situation.

“TNA vs. WWE Fantasy Match” is pretty self-explanatory; it’s a weekly series that will feature a match between current TNA and WWE Superstars. Along with the booked match and predicted winner at the end of each piece, there will a brief history of each Superstar. Also, career accolades and informative stats about each competitor will be highlighted as well.

This week’s Fantasy Match showcases two vicious and deranged wrestlers; The Monster Abyss of TNA and The Big Red Machine, Kane.

History

Abyss and Kane have never stepped foot inside the same wrestling ring together, and that’s what makes this fantasy match so exciting. In this section, a brief history of each Superstar’s career as well as their championship reigns and accomplishments are examined:

Abyss

Abyss has been with TNA since the creation of the promotion (2002), but didn’t make his official “Monster Abyss” debut until 2003. Before joining TNA, Abyss was discovered by Dutch Mantel (AKA Zeb Colter). In 2004, he had his first major feud involving the face of TNA, AJ Styles. However, Abyss didn’t reach his full heel potential until shortly after.

From 2005-2008, Abyss’ character took a positive turn after he gained the managerial services of James Mitchell. Mitchell was a perfect mouth-piece and gave orders to the emotionally disturbed wrestler. Abyss’ time with Mitchell was weird and awkward, but more importantly, the duo was convincing and entertaining. Abyss would eventually turn on his manager (later revealed to be his “father”) and began to team with Matt Morgan.

Jump to 2010, Abyss was a member of the heel stable known as Immortal. Immortal was led by Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and the TNA World Heavyweight champion Jeff Hardy. Abyss would begin to carry around a wooden board filled with nails and named the object “Janice”. Before Hardy became the TNA World Heavyweight champion, current WWE superstar Rob Van Dam held the strap, until he was brutally attacked by Abyss. The monster would go on to fight Rob Van Dam at Bound for Glory 2010 in a Stairway to Janice match. Yes, a Stairway to Janice match, which was pretty much a Hardcore match. Anyways, Abyss lost the bout.

After Immortal had broken down, Abyss turned face and he seemed to be pretty over with the fans. Now, in 2012, Abyss currently plays the role of Joseph Park, who claims to be Abyss’ brother. Joseph Park is clearly Abyss without the mask and both characters are faces in TNA.

Glenn Jacobs made his official debut as Kane at Badd Blood 1997 by attacking his brother The Undertaker in a match against Shawn Michaels. At this time, the Big Red Machine was being managed by Paul Bearer, who used to manage The Undertaker. After a series of matches, including one at WrestleMania, both brothers were able to put their differences aside and teamed up.

The Brothers of Destruction were virtually unstoppable from 2000-2001 and decimated their opponents during the infamous Invasion angle. The Brothers of Destruction split up in 2002 and Kane went on to achieve great tag team success with other partners. The Big Red Machine won the Tag Team Titles with Shane Helms (The Hurricane) and Rob Van Dam. Personally, Kane and Rob Van Dam were one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. They were so different, but had tremendous backstage segments and worked well with one another inside the squared circle.

Anyways, on the June 23, 2003 edition of Monday Night Raw, Kane officially removed his mask and turned heel once again. A year later, Kane began a feud with Matt Hardy and eventually won the right to “marry” Lita. After Kane and his brother joined forces again for a short time, Kane set his sights on the ECW championship in 2007. After becoming the ECW champion, Kane would be involved in the World Heavyweight Title picture for a number of years.

From 2008-2011, Kane had numerous World Heavyweight Title matches and feuded with WWE legends such as Edge, Rey Mysterio and The Undertaker once again. In late 2011, Kane brought back a new version of the mask he used to wear early on in his career and focused on dismantling John Cena. After a rather forgettable feud, Kane joined forces with Daniel Bryan and formed Team Hell No. Team Hell No would go on to hold the WWE Tag Team Titles for 245 days.

As of today, Kane is a face and is currently feuding with The Wyatt Family.

As you can see from the table, Kane and Abyss have similar win percentages even though The Big Red Machine has competed in over 1,500 more matches. Now remember, these stats are organized by each gimmick. Abyss’ stats do not include Joseph Park’s stats (44 matches) and Kane’s stats do not include Isaac Yankem (108 matches) or Fake Diesel’s stats (40 matches). Regardless, when it comes to Kane, this stat chart is impressive. Look at that, 2,214 matches! This guy is a legend.

Abyss vs. Kane 2014

Abyss vs. Kane in 2014 would definitely be intriguing, but not for everybody. In order for this match to happen, I think we’d have to see Kane go back to his 1997 roots and be booked as an unstoppable monster once again. Joseph Park has been on TNA TV for the past year and Abyss has shown his face only two or three times, therefore, it’s difficult to predict the outcome of this match.

I don’t call Joseph Park a jobber because he actually has a win percentage of over 50%, but considering the character he is playing, I assume that Abyss would have a better overall record. Basically, Park is a wimp unless he sees his own blood and once that happens, he turns into an unstoppable monster, like Abyss.

There is no doubt that Kane would annihilate Joseph Park, but I have a feeling that Abyss would give Kane a more evenly matched contest. Both Abyss and Kane are (usually) viewed as dangerous and deranged monsters that have a high tolerance for pain. I’d love to see these two in a No Holds Barred match.

Important Note: Usually, for this Fantasy Feuds series, I set the TNA vs. WWE matches at WrestleMania 30, but I have realized that that gives an unfair advantage to the WWE superstars. So, from now on, the TNA and WWE wrestlers that are featured in this series will be competing at a neutral site that has yet to be determined. So I’m asking you, the readers, to come up with a neutral location/arena that these TNA vs. WWE matches would take place. It could be at Madison Square Garden or take place at TNA vs. WWE PPV theme or something along those lines. Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below.

Prediction: Abyss defeats Kane with the Black Hole Slam after 15 minutes of intense, painful-to-watch action. Considering this match isn’t taking place in WWE, there is no TV-PG rating, which means anything can happen. For most of you that have watched Kane throughout his career, the Devil’s Favorite Demon has no problem putting over other superstars in matches and that’s what I expect him to do if he ever competed in a match against Abyss.

Winner: Abyss

If you enjoyed reading this article and would like to have an influence on next week’s TNA vs. WWE Fantasy Match, please feel free to comment below with the two wrestlers you’d like to see square off.